Providing a zone of isolation in a surgical environment can facilitate an operation as well as facilitate post-operative healing. For example, in dental operations such as root canals and/or root canal retrofilling, isolation is desirable because of the potential for contamination from saliva and effusion from the bone wall around lesion zone. This can make it very difficult to keep the work zone dry. Also, a moist oral environment is conducive to bacterial growth. Additionally, the effusion and/or saliva can form a thin liquid layer between the obturation materials (i.e., refilling materials) and the bone wall, which can result in post-operation micro leakage, gap formation, and failure of the treatment.
At the same time, the detritus, which is produced during the process of filling, drilling, and the apex removal, can fall into the bone cavity. Detritus that falls into the bone cavity can be difficult to remove and can act as a source for post-operative infection.